Study On Evolvement And Optimization Of Rural Settlement System Of Area Surrounding Erhai Lake

A rural settlement is a basic dwelling place for rural residents for production and life. Asthe origin of human settlements, rural settlements，with its typical regional adaptability andsimple but practical special organization, reflect the harmonious relationship between manand nature to a great extent, and become a valuable carrier of human civilization.At present, the rural areas in our country stand in a key period of social and economicdevelopment, and a new upsurge is in the making for rural settlement construction. In theprocess of anti-poverty and pursuing of economic growth, however, positive input does notnecessarily make a good environment for both production and living. Redundant construction,unregulated expansion, monotonous alikeness and lack of local color strain the paradoxicalrelationships of the rural settlements between “to develop” and “to protect”. Consequently, thesustainable development in such areas is faced with severe challenges.The area surrounding Erhai Lake represents a region in Yunnan Province with suchstriking combining characteristics as “fragile eco-region of highland lake, hybrid region ofdiversified national cultures and lively region of rural economic development”. This paperanalyses the evolvement characteristics, actuating mechanism and optimizing approaches forthe rural settlements in such undeveloped and eco-environmental fragile minority areas inwest China. The author keeps up with the current practical need of the construction of newsocialist countryside, and also enriches the geographical theories related to rural settlements.As a applied research with striking regional characteristics, the paper follows the logicorder of “to analyze the basic conditions–to build up an analyzing framework of dimensions–to recover the systematic evolutionary process–combing the systematic actuatingmechanism–and to formulate system optimizing mechanism”. In this order, the setup of atwo-dimensional dynamic analyzing framework of “structure–function” remains thetheoretic footstone of the paper. Within the framework and with the technological support ofRS、GIS、Fragstats, the paper traces the dynamic evolvement trajectories by the twodimensions of structure and function of the settlements, and restructures the underlyingactuating mechanism of the development of rural settlement system in typical areas. Theauthor also explores a regulatory strategy to optimize and build up a rural settlement systemin the area surrounding Erhai Lake in the context of the macro trend and the realisticrequirement of the new countryside-construction drive and the overall planning of the coordinated development of urban and rural areas.The major achievements and conclusions in this paper include:(1) to access the historiccharacters and realistic contradictions of the rural settlements in the area surrounding ErhaiLake and to fully comprehend the identity and individuality of the rural settlements in the areasurrounding Erhai Lake;(2) to build up a two-dimensional dynamic analyzing framework of“structure–function”. With the thinking and analytical approach of general paradigm ofsystems science, the paper observes the rural settlements in a “systematic” way, combs theessential elements of “structure” and “function” of the rural settlement system, integrates andintroduces a two-dimensional dynamic analyzing framework of “structure–function”, andwith the framework as its logic tool makes intensive study of the rural settlements in the areasurrounding Erhai Lake;(3) to recover the dynamic evolvement process of the ruralsettlement system in the area surrounding Erhai Lake. Following the approach of the twodimensional dynamic analyzing framework, the paper examines the dynamic evolvement ofstructure and function of the rural settlement system in the area surrounding Erhai Lake in achronological order (1990-2009). Research has revealed that the development of the structureof the rural settlement system in the area surrounding Erhai Lake bears remarkable characterof “size growing”,“distribution more densely” and “irregular shape stretch”, while thedevelopment of function marks distinguishing features of “outstanding non-agriculturaltransition of production function”,“continuous improvement in living and service function”and “ecological function to be adapted”. The paper even discusses the changes of the functionof the settlements with different structures, captures the corresponding changes of settlementstructure with different functional transitions, and attempts to analyze the two-wayinterconnection between the structure and function of the rural settlement system in the areasurrounding Erhai Lake;(4) to penetrate the actuating mechanism of the evolvement of therural settlement system in the area surrounding Erhai Lake. The author thinks that the ruralsettlement system in the area surrounding Erhai Lake is a result of comprehensive effect ofmulti-factors such as natural environmental factors (landforms, climate, hydrology, soils,resources, etc.), traditional cultural factors (the ethnic cultures and feng shui) and socialeconomic factors (population development, economic development, town attraction,transportation catalyst and government’s regulatory role). Comparatively, the social andeconomic factors play more positively and actively in contemporary actual transition, anddominate the evolvement of the rural settlement system;(5) to find out the major problems inthe optimization of the rural settlement system in the area surrounding Erhai Lake. Sticking to the logic route of “identifying problems-probing problems and solving problems”, the paperaddresses in details the structural and functional issues existing in the evolvement of the ruralsettlement system in the area surrounding Erhai Lake so as to define the specific goal andsecure the foothold of the system optimization;(6) to propose the integration strategy for theoptimization of the rural settlement system in the area surrounding Erhai Lake. With solvingthe realistic issues existing in the two-dimensional framework of “structure and function” ofthe rural settlement system in the area surrounding Erhai Lake as its starting point, the paperputs forward such integrated strategy balancing structure characters and functionalrequirements as “to innovate a typical pathway pattern for the industrial development of ruralsettlements”,“to press ahead with the construction of the nodal points of the rural settlementsystem with high quality and density”,“to recover the local natural environment of the ruralsettlement” and “to promote quality of life in the rural settlement in the modern world”. Inaddition, the author also discusses the safeguard mechanism for the optimization of the ruralsettlement system in the area surrounding Erhai Lake in such supplementary terms of humanresources, capital, land resources and the transition of government’s regulatory role.